Col. Clinton McKamey Winkler

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Colonel Clinton McKamey Winkler. The name is carved into the map of Texas itself, a whole county bearing it, and if you want to know why, well, let's start at the beginning.

October 19, 1821, born in North Carolina. But North Carolina couldn't hold him, and by 1840 he had settled in the Republic of Texas. Not the state, mind you.

The Republic. This man arrived before Texas was even Texas. That sets the tone right there.

He read the law, got admitted to the Bar in 1843, and before long he was sitting in the 2nd Texas Legislature, serving from 1847 to 1849. A judge, a lawmaker, a man building something. Then the war came.

Winkler didn't just answer the call, he went out and raised 150 men for Hood's Brigade. One hundred and fifty men. He served four years in the Confederate army, and at a little Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg, he was wounded.

He came home carrying that. After the war, he was elected to the 13th Texas Legislature, and when the state created the Texas Court of Appeals, Clinton Winkler was named one of the three original justices. Three men, standing at the founding of a court.

He was one of them. Along the way he married twice and had eight children. He died May 13, 1882.

Eminent judge, the marker calls him. A county named for him, a court shaped by him, a republic he arrived in before it was a state. Not a bad accounting for one life.

What the marker says

(October 19, 1821--May 13, 1882) Eminent judge, for whom a Texas county was named. Born in North Carolina. Settled in 1840 in the Republic of Texas. Admitted to the Bar (1843), he served 1847-49 in 2nd Texas Legislature. Raising 150 men for Hood's Brigade, he served four years in Confederate army; was wounded at Gettysburg. He was elected to 13th Texas Legislature. At creation of Texas Court of Appeals, he was one of three original justices. Married twice, he had eight children. Recorded 1971